'One man (sic: "One Sunni Muslim man" - CM) has been charged, and police expect to charge two others with committing an "Islamic-state-inspired" (why the scare quotes, dear ABC? - CM) terrorist act following an investigation into arson attacks on a Shia Islamic centre in late 2016.

In other words, it wasn't 'far right' 'Islamophobes', as I suspect all too many of our Useful Idiots were assuming or hoping it would be. It was Muslims, of one sect, attacking Muslims, of another. If neither variety of Muslim had been imported into Australia, all the money and man-hours chewed up by having to investigate this sort of thing, would not be required. - CM

'A 29 year old man (that is: a 29 year old Sunni Muslim man - CM) from Meadow Heights, in Melbourne's north, was arrested late last night by officers from the special operations group in connection with a fire in December last year, and was charged and remanded in custody early on Sunday morning.'

'It will be alleged that the Meadow Heights man and two others, who are currently in custody and awaiting trial for allegedly planning a terrorist act on Christmas day in 2016, caused two serious fires at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre at Fawkner, in November and December of 2016.

'Police said it would be alleged that those who committed the attack were members of an "extremist Sunni ideology".

Nah, all they need to be is bog-standard Sunni Muslims, taught to regard Shiites as rank heretics, 'Rafidite dogs". - CM

"In terms of the charges being led togeday, we're not saying these are just arson attacks", Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney, of the Australian Federal Police, said.

"What we're going to allege is that these were Islamic State-inspired attacks. They were inspired and designed to influence, put fear into, a particular part of the community.

"These are significant and serious charges and carry a maximum penalty of life in prison."

I would prefer a substantial jail term - and no Islam while they're "inside", no Koran, no imam visits, no prayer rug, no halal food, no qibla, no 'prayer time', and also no contact with non-Islamic prisoners permitted, to obviate their engaging in 'prison dawa' - and then: stripping of citizenship, and deportation to the Islamic country of their or their parents' origin. Same deal for any other mohammedan caught plotting jihad terror attacks, or threatening or attacking or attempting to attack either those who have left Islam, or those who criticise Islam. Or engaging in FGM, child 'marriage', forced 'marriage', or polygyny. Out with them! And let's not bring in any more, either. - CM

'Assistant-Commissioner McCartney said therew as a "strong influence" behind the attacks from Islamic State.

But even if there were no Islamic State, such attacks by Sunnis upon Shiites might well have occurred. And if the Shiites felt themselves to be strong enough, the reverse could also occur, since they hate and despise the Sunnis about as much as the Sunnis hate and despise them. Though both may on occasion still team up to attack non-Muslims; Shiite Iran is happy to help Sunni Muslim Hamas to attack the Jews. - CM

'No threat to community.

'Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther said the three men were connected to an alleged plot in December 2016.

"The matters that they're in custody for are those matters we allege involve a plot to execute a terrorist action in Melbourne around the Christmas (2016) period", he said. "These acts are quite a different matter because we're saying these were committed.

"So they're not acts in preparation (of a terrorist act). We're saying this was an act of terrorism and has been completed".

'Assistant Commissioner Guenther said the impact of the attacks on the Shia Muslim community were significant.

Question: supposing these three jIhadis had committed arson against a Christian church, Jewish synagogue, or Hindu or Buddhist temple: would he still be so solemnly saying "the impact of the attacks on the Jewish/ Christian/ Hindu/ Buddhist community were significant"? - CM

"It interferes with the whole process of social cohesion(translation: it exposes the brute fact that Muslims are not at all interested in being part of the 'social cohesion'- CM) that we so heavily promote" he said.

If I had a dollar for every time, in the past seven years, say, that I have heard the words "social cohesion", "community", "harmony", "come together", "unite", "unity", etc, burbled by this or that official personage, in the immediate wake of some Mohammedan atrocity or other, whether committed against Infidels or, as in this case, against other-sect Muslims, on infidel-country soil, I'd have some serious money in the bank, by now. - CM

"So I think if you look back at the methodology behind ISIS, it's really about separating, it's about being divisive. That's very much what this was intended to be".

No, it merely exposes the intractability and viciousness of the Sunni-Shiite schism that opened up like a bottomless pit very shortly after the death of warlord and cult-leader Mohammed, way back in the 7th century. They have hated and warred against each other ever since, although from time to time they have been known to team up and assist each other to attack the hated Infidels. And while we're talking about 'separating' and 'being divisive', dear Assistant-Commissioner, have you ever had the concepts of 'Dar al Islam' and "Dar al Harb' explained to you? Or the absolutely fundamental Islamic principle of 'al-wala wa al-baraa', "Loyalty (to sufficiently-sharia-compliant and same-sect Muslims, only) and Enmity (toward all Infidels qua infidels, and also toward any insufficiently-Islamic/ wrong-sect Muslims)"?? Orthodox Islam divides the world into dar al Islam, the region of Submission, where Muslims rule and, ideally, the Sharia is the only law; and dar al Harb, the Zone of War, containing all those societies or states that are not ruled by Muslims and are governed by/ subscribe to non-Islamic laws, customs and belief systems, and are therefore deemed to be criminal rebels against 'allah', to be warred against unceasingly by Muslims, and either forced to Submit - as Muslims or near-slave Dhimmis - or killed. See Quran 9.29. - CM

'Assistant-Commissioner Guenther said they were not aware of any other threat to that community at the moment.

"With the advent of the attacks in Spain (and the Muslim murdering people with knives in a market in Finland, and the Muslim running amok with a knife in Russia, also trying to murder people - CM) I'm very conscious of the anxiety that's in the broader community", he said.

Some of us would prefer not to have to wonder when some allahu-akbaring thug with a knife is going to come up and stab us from behind, or try to slit our throats; or whether an allahu-akbaring thug or thugs are going to run us over with a heavy vehicle, or start spraying us with gunfire, or detonate themselves as a human bomb in a public place crowded full of us Infidels. No matter how much you try to pretend that we're all just one big happy fuzzy huggy family, the reality is, the Muslims don't see it that way - it's the Ummah, or Mohammedan Mob, waging war upon the rest of us filthy dirty Infidels, to force us to Submit. - CM

"I would like to remind everyone that you will see over this weekend an increase in [police] patrols, and it might take a bit longer to get into some of the sporting events.

"It's just important to realize that we don't stand back on these things, and we leverage off world events, and as a result, there will be some additional frontline police at public events this weekend."

That won't stop some Muslim who decides to run amok with a knife stabbing people in the back, in some shopping centre or on a beach, or in a church. Sooner or later it's going to happen. There are 600 000 Muslims in Australia, and counting; and there is really no way of knowing which of them will, one day, Go Jihad; all we know is that some of them - quite a few of them - will. This time, Sunni Muslims went Jihad against a mosque belonging to Shiites; but they could just as easily have attacked a church, synagogue, or temple. Or a sportsground. Or a shopping centre. Three of those who attacked the Shiite mosque did also indeed plot to attack a church - to wit, to attack a major Cathedral during the midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and their intention was to murder a great many Christians; and their 'reasons' for so doing would be, at bottom, nothing more than that those Christians were... Christians, holding beliefs that Islam condemns as criminal (the divinity of Jesus; and the doctrine of the Trinity) - CM

Now, Andrea Hamblin, of the Herald-Sun, which has rather more detail, including the name of the Muslim who has just been arrested.

"Two young men (two young Muslim men - CM) charged over a Christmas Day terror plot to blow up the heart of Melbourne were allegedly behind two other terror attacks in Victoria.

'Police will allege the men, Ahmed Mohamed, 24, and Abdullah Chaarani, 26, and an accomplice, were responsible for Islamic-State inspired arson attacks at a mosque in Fawkner, in Melbourne's north.

'Heavily-armed police swooped in to arrest Meadow Heights man Hatim Moukhaiber, 29, last night, following months of intelligence-gathering in the investigation into the fires.

"It will be alleged the three men caused a serious fire at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre on 11 December 2016.

'Graffiti reading "Islamic State" had also been painted on the centre, which is a place of worship for the Shia community.

'The tow men already in custody for the Christmas Day plot will also be charged over a previous fire at the centre, which occurred on 25 November 2016.

'AFP and Victoria Police counter-terrorism investigators believe the men subscribe to an "extremist Sunni ideology" (sic: in other words - "the men follow orthodox Sunni Islam" - CM) and allegedly intended to terrorise and influence other people within the Muslim community.

They intended to terrorise and influence the Shiites, whom they view with contempt, as heretics; whom they do not recognise as fellow Muslims. - CM

'Mr Moukhaiber had been under watch for months and police had been planning for the safest way to arrest him.

'The heavily-armed Specialist Operations Group surrounded his car as he drove with a group of others, including a child, in Roxburgh Park.

Our cops have figured out that whenever dealing with mohammedan mob or mobsters it is best to use overwhelming force. - CM

'Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney said police will allege IS (Islamic State) had a "strong influence" on the men who police said had been "associates" for some time.

Islamic State would not have any influence upon them if they had not been already 'primed' for that influence, by their Muslim upbringing. - CM

'Investigators had not uncovered evidence I.S. had directed the men to attack.

Sunni Muslim hatred of and contempt for Shiites does not begin and end with Islamic State. It's a lot older than that. - CM

'What we're going to allege is that these were Islamic-State inspired attacks", Mr McCartney said. "They were inspired and designed to influence and put fear into a particular group in the community. These are significant and serious charges."

'Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther said the methodology of IS was to separate and cause division within the community...

'AFP and local police would continue to work with the Shia community in coming days to reassure them and provide information.

"We're not aware of any ongoing threat to that community", Mr Guenther said.

'Would-be suicide bombers had allegedly planned to blow up the heart of Melbourne on Christmas Day last year in a terror attack aimed at unleashing destruction and causing mass casualties. Flinders St Station, Federation Square and St Paul's Cathedral were allegedly major targets of an Islamic State-inspired plot.'

'It's claimed common household goods were stockpiled at the Meadow Heights home of the group's suspected ringleader to fuel the deadly blast.

'Police had also been investigating a string of arson attacks at the mosque.

'Mr McCartney said attacking a place of worship was a serious crime and the community should be reassured that this type of criminality would be thoroughly pursued.

"It is clear that these arson attacks were designed to intimidate and influence those that attend this mosque and the wider Islamic community (sic: "designed to intimidate Shiite Muslims" - CM). These actions have no place in our society", he said. "Individuals or groups who think they are above the law when it comes to this type of intimidation should think again".

'Mr Guenther said this represents the high quality of effort delivered by the tri-agency set up in Melbourne. "The partnership between Victoria Police, the AFP and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation [ASIO] which makes up the J.C. T.T. continues to achieve excellent results in protecting the Victorian community.

"Victoria Police is proud to serve a diverse multi-faith and multicultural community and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in our community".

'Mr Moukhaiber was remanded in custody and is expected to reappear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

'The two other men will also face court tomorrow. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison."

If they get life in prison they should be kept separate from non-Islamic prisoners, so as to prevent them from engaging in Prison Dawa. Personally, I'd rather give them a long - segregated - sentence, then, time served, strip them of Aussie citizenship, and deport them to whichever Muslim country they or their parents came from. - CM

Post scriptum. A quick google round turned up some of the reports that appeared at the time when these arson attacks had first taken place. One - very typical of the coverage - appeared in 'The Courier' on 11 December.

I quote - "An Islamic Community Centre in Melbourne's north has been fire-bombed after the words "Islamic State" were scrawled on the building, which had already been the subject of several recent arson attacks. The Imam Ali Islamic Centre... was gutted by the massive blaze... Photographs reveal the words "Islamic State" in English and Arabic on the building, but it remains unclear what motivated the arson attack, which is believed to be the third incident in the past six months...

"A member of the local Shia community... refused to speculate on who might have been responsible. "Everything is on the table and I don't think anyone really knows."

The reporter then inserted a paragraph focusing attention on alleged 'far-right' attacks on mosques. "Mosques and Islamic community centres have been targets of repeated attacks by far-right groups across Australia (though none involving, so far as I recall, fire-bombing and gutting of buildings by arson - CM), while detectives are also expected to examine sectarian tensions between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Melbourne.

And guess what... that, and not 'far right groups' ... turned out to be exactly what it was all about. Even though one of the Shiite Muslims himself attempted to deflect attention from Islam and its internecine quarrels - 'Another community member said the graffiti was a ruse to distract investigators. "I can tell you, it has absolutely nothing to do with Islamic State, and I hope the media and everyone else don't allow themselves to be manipulated. We have a very good idea who's behind this", the man said.'

Well, the pesky Infidel police found out that it was committed by Muslims, not by Infidels, and that it did have something to do with Islamic State. Oh, dear. - CM